C3 Initiative: "Chester Made" Information-Gathering Sessions

Artist-led story circles held by the Chester Cultural Corridor team created this downtown asset map of arts, culture and creative expression. Photo by Paul Fritz, Consulting City Planner.

Supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the Chester Cultural Corridor Initiative takes a novel approach to city planning, using theater and community dialogue to inform the revitalization of the Chester Cultural Corridor (C3) along Avenue of the States between City Hall and Widener University.

A "Chester Made" Artist-Facilitator Ensemble will ask youth, seniors, artists, cultural leaders, healers, local historians, business owners, and Widener's campus—and many more—to share personal stories of meaningful cultural and creative experiences in Chester to map locations where "art and culture happen." These stories will form the basis of a cultural asset map that will ensure "Chester Made" arts and culture are visible and celebrated—and attract support for large-scale public art projects and other campaigns for cultural revitalization in the downtown corridor.

During each of the five Information-Gathering Sessions, groups will share their stories in story circles, experience short image theater pieces based on those stories, and collectively reflect on shared values, experiences, and visions for creative expression and cultural engagement in Chester.

The overarching goal is to include and to hear from local community members who rarely attend public meetings or participate in traditional methods of data collection, in an effort to rebuild an overall positive community identity, and to create conditions for grassroots social change and economic development.